n. The branch of medicine that deals with the causes or origins of disease.

n. Assignment of a cause, an origin, or a reason for something.

exiguous

adj. Extremely scanty; meager.

burgeon

intransitive v. To put forth new buds, leaves, or greenery; sprout.

intransitive v. To begin to grow or blossom.

intransitive v. To grow or develop rapidly.

fiat

n. An arbitrary order or decree.

n. Authorization or sanction: government fiat.

fungible

adj. Law Returnable or negotiable in kind or by substitution, as a quantity of grain for an equal amount of the same kind of grain.

adj. Interchangeable.

n. Something that is exchangeable or substitutable. Often used in the plural.

kibitzer

n. A person who offers unsolicited views, advice, or criticism; one who kibitzes.

gestation

n. The period of development in the uterus from conception until birth; pregnancy.

n. The conception and development of a plan or an idea in the mind.

Delphi effect

The Delphi method is a structured communication technique or method, originally developed as a systematic, interactive forecasting method which relies on a panel of experts. The experts answer questionnaires in two or more rounds. After each round, a facilitator provides an anonymous summary of the experts’ forecasts from the previous round as well as the reasons they provided for their judgments. Thus, experts are encouraged to revise their earlier answers in light of the replies of other members of their panel. It is believed that during this process the range of the answers will decrease and the group will converge towards the “correct” answer. Finally, the process is stopped after a predefined stop criterion (e.g. number of rounds, achievement of consensus, stability of results) and the mean or median scores of the final rounds determine the results.

founder

v. To sink below the surface of the water: The ship struck a reef and foundered.

v. To cave in; sink: The platform swayed and then foundered.

v. To fail utterly; collapse: a marriage that soon foundered.

beleaguered

adj. Besieged; surrounded by enemy troops.

adj. Beset by trouble or difficulty.

v. Simple past tense and past participle of beleaguer.

succour

n. Chiefly British Variant of succor.

n. Assistance in time of distress; relief.

n. One that affords assistance or relief.

v. To give assistance to in time of want, difficulty, or distress. See Synonyms at help.

neotenous

adj. Exhibiting retention of juvenile characteristics in the adult.

adj. Babyfaced.

epilog

n. Alternative spelling of epilogue.

n. A short poem or speech spoken directly to the audience following the conclusion of a play.

n. The performer who delivers such a short poem or speech.

n. A short addition or concluding section at the end of a literary work, often dealing with the future of its characters. Also called afterword.

aphorist

n. A person who writes or recites aphorisms.

aphorism

n. A tersely phrased statement of a truth or opinion; an adage. See Synonyms at saying.

n. A brief statement of a principle.

regime

n. A form of government: a fascist regime.

n. A government in power; administration: suffered under the new regime.

n. A prevailing social system or pattern.

constellation

n. Astronomy An arbitrary formation of stars perceived as a figure or design, especially one of 88 recognized groups named after characters from classical mythology and various common animals and objects.

n. Astronomy An area of the celestial sphere occupied by one of the 88 recognized constellations.

n. The configuration of planets at the time of one’s birth, regarded by astrologers as determining one’s character or fate.

Gaussian distribution

In probability theory, the normal (or Gaussian) distribution is a very common continuous probability distribution. Normal distributions are important in statistics and are often used in the natural and social sciences to represent real-valued random variables whose distributions are not known.

Poisson distribution

In probability theory and statistics, the Poisson distribution, named after French mathematician Siméon Denis Poisson, is a discrete probability distribution that expresses the probability of a given number of events occurring in a fixed interval of time and/or space if these events occur with a known average rate and independently of the time since the last event. The Poisson distribution can also be used for the number of events in other specified intervals such as distance, area or volume.

legion

n. The major unit of the Roman army consisting of 3,000 to 6,000 infantry troops and 100 to 200 cavalry troops.

v. To depreciate (currency, for example) by official proclamation or by rumor.

insha’allah

if Allah wills; God willing

GOP

The Republican Party, commonly referred to as the GOP (abbreviation for Grand Old Party)

ACLU

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonpartisan, non-profit organization whose stated mission is “to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in the United States by its Constitution and laws.”

bien-pensant

adj. Right-thinking, orthodox, conformist; conservative.

n. A person who is bien pensant.

n. Someone who accepts and or espouses a fashionable idea after it has been established and maintains it without a great amount of critical thought.

n. A person with superior, usually specialized knowledge or highly refined taste; a connoisseur.

promulgate

v. To make known (a decree, for example) by public declaration; announce officially. See Synonyms at announce.

v. To put (a law) into effect by formal public announcement.

charlatan

n. A person who makes elaborate, fraudulent, and often voluble claims to skill or knowledge; a quack or fraud.

culpability

n. The degree of one’s blameworthiness in the commission of a crime or offense.

varsity

n. The principal team representing a university, college, or school in sports, games, or other competitions.

n. Chiefly British A university.

émigré

n. A Frenchman who has departed their native land, especially a royalist who left during the French Revolution.

n. An emigrant, one who departs their native land to become an immigrant in another, especially a political exile.

vociferous

adj. Making, given to, or marked by noisy and vehement outcry.

vehement

adj. Characterized by forcefulness of expression or intensity of emotion or conviction; fervid: a vehement denial. See Synonyms at intense.

adj. Marked by or full of vigor or energy; strong: a vehement storm.

neophyte

n. A recent convert to a belief; a proselyte.

n. A beginner or novice: a neophyte at politics.

n. Roman Catholic Church A newly ordained priest.

vixen

n. A female fox.

n. A woman regarded as quarrelsome, shrewish, or malicious.

milieu

n. An environment or a setting.

pernicious

adj. Tending to cause death or serious injury; deadly: a pernicious virus.

adj. Causing great harm; destructive: pernicious rumors.

adj. Archaic Evil; wicked.

pontificate

n. The office or term of office of a pontiff.

v. To express opinions or judgments in a dogmatic way.

v. To administer the office of a pontiff.

duplicitous

adj. Given to or marked by deliberate deceptiveness in behavior or speech.

MSM

Mainstream Media

salad days

“Salad days” is a Shakespearean idiomatic expression to refer to a youthful time, accompanied by the inexperience, enthusiasm, idealism, innocence, or indiscretion that one associates with a young person. More modern use, especially in the United States, refers to a heyday, a period when somebody was at the peak of their abilities—not necessarily in that person’s youth.

barbiturate

n. A salt or ester of barbituric acid.

n. Any of a group of barbituric acid derivatives that act as central nervous system depressants and are used as sedatives or hypnotics.

expound

v. To give a detailed statement of; set forth: expounded the intricacies of the new tax law.

v. To explain in detail; elucidate: The speaker expounded the approach of positive thinking. See Synonyms at explain.

v. To make a detailed statement: The professor was expounding on a favorite topic.

fabulist

n. A composer of fables.

n. A teller of tales; a liar.

jibe

n. to shift from one side to the other when running before the wind, as a fore-and-aft sail or its boom.

n. to alter course so that a fore-and-aft sail shifts in this manner.

éminence grise

n. A powerful adviser or decision-maker who operates secretly or unofficially. Also called gray eminence.

amalgam

n. Any of various alloys of mercury with other metals, especially:

n. An alloy of mercury and silver used in dental fillings.

n. An alloy of mercury and tin used in silvering mirrors.

STEM

STEM is an acronym referring to the academic disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

beyond the pale

Describing behaviour that is considered to be outside the bounds of morality, good behaviour or judgement in civilised company.

agitprop

n. Political propaganda, especially favoring communism and disseminated through literature, drama, art, or music: “It also is a conspiracy movie, agitprop against today’s targets, big government and big business” ( George F. Will).

retinue

n. The retainers or attendants accompanying a high-ranking person.

brigand

n. A robber or bandit, especially one of an outlaw band.

rhetorical

adj. Of or relating to rhetoric.

adj. Characterized by overelaborate or bombastic rhetoric.

adj. Used for persuasive effect: a speech punctuated by rhetorical pauses.

caput mundi

Caput Mundi is a Latin phrase taken to mean “capital of the world” (literally: “head of the world”)

Potomac

n. a river flowing SE from the Allegheny Mountains in West Virginia, along the boundary between Maryland and Virginia to the Chesapeake Bay. 287 miles (460 km) long.

n. a city in central Maryland, near Washington, D.C.

Asymmetric warfare

Asymmetric warfare (or Asymmetric engagement) is war between belligerents whose relative military power differs significantly, or whose strategy or tactics differ significantly. This is typically a war between a standing, professional army and an insurgency or resistance movement.

nefarious

adj. Infamous by way of being extremely wicked.

offing

n. The part of the sea visible from shore that is very distant or beyond anchoring ground.

idiom. in the offing In the near or immediate future; soon to come: with exams finished and graduation in the offing.

n. Offensive An unbeliever with respect to a particular religion, especially Christianity or Islam.

n. One who has no religious beliefs.

n. One who doubts or rejects a particular doctrine, system, or principle.

Weltanschauung

n. a person’s or a group’s conception, philosophy or view of the world; a worldview

Intifada

n. An uprising among Palestinian Arabs of the Gaza Strip and West Bank, beginning in late 1987 and continuing sporadically into the early 1990s, in protest against continued Israeli occupation of these territories.

autocratic

adj. Of or pertaining to autocracy or to an autocrat; absolute; holding independent and arbitrary powers of government.

adj. Of or pertaining to the manner of an autocrat.

autocrat

n. A ruler having unlimited power; a despot.

n. A person with unlimited power or authority: a corporate autocrat.

ameliorate

v. To make or become better; improve. See Synonyms at improve.

hegemon

n. One that exercises hegemony.

hegemony

n. The predominant influence, as of a state, region, or group, over another or others.

lynchpin

n. A locking pin inserted in the end of a shaft, as in an axle, to prevent a wheel from slipping off.

n. A central cohesive element: Reduced spending is the linchpin of their economic program.

n. A waiting room or lounge for the use of performers when they are offstage, as in a theater or concert hall.

internment

n. The act of interning or confining, especially in wartime.

n. The state of being interned; confinement.

au courant

adj. Informed on current affairs; up-to-date.

adj. Fully familiar; knowledgeable.

wiles

n. A stratagem or trick intended to deceive or ensnare.

n. A disarming or seductive manner, device, or procedure: the wiles of a skilled negotiator.

n. Trickery; cunning.

fractious

adj. Inclined to make trouble; unruly.

adj. Having a peevish nature; cranky.

polyglot

adj. Speaking, writing, written in, or composed of several languages.

n. A person having a speaking, reading, or writing knowledge of several languages.

n. A book, especially a Bible, containing several versions of the same text in different languages.

coterie

n. A small, often select group of persons who associate with one another frequently.

emigre

n. One who has departed their native land, often as a refugee.

n. An emigrant, one who departs their native land to become an immigrant in another.

parley

n. A discussion or conference, especially one between enemies over terms of truce or other matters.

v. To have a discussion, especially with an enemy.

sanction

n. Authoritative permission or approval that makes a course of action valid. See Synonyms at permission.

n. Support or encouragement, as from public opinion or established custom.

n. A consideration, influence, or principle that dictates an ethical choice.

internecine

adj. Of or relating to struggle within a nation, organization, or group.

adj. Mutually destructive; ruinous or fatal to both sides.

adj. Characterized by bloodshed or carnage.

paunchy

adj. Having a potbelly.

wag the dog

To ‘wag the dog’ means to purposely divert attention from what would otherwise be of greater importance, to something else of lesser significance. By doing so, the lesser-significant event is catapulted into the limelight, drowning proper attention to what was originally the more important issue.

woolly-headed

adj. Having hair that looks or feels like wool.

adj. Vague or muddled: wooly-headed ideas.

bellweather

n. Common misspelling of bellwether.

bellwether

n. One that serves as a leader or as a leading indicator of future trends: “The degree to which the paper is censored is a political bellwether” (Justine De Lacy).

polemical

adj. of, or relating to argument or controversy; polemic or contentious

adj. aggressive in verbal attack; disputatious.

n. A diatribe or polemic

fickle

adj. Characterized by erratic changeableness or instability, especially with regard to affections or attachments; capricious.

veracity

n. Adherence to the truth; truthfulness. See Synonyms at truth.

n. Conformity to fact or truth; accuracy or precision: a report of doubtful veracity.

adj. Resembling or characteristic of a boor; rude and clumsy in behavior.

aflutter

adj. Being in a flutter; fluttering: with flags aflutter.

adj. Nervous and excited.

shopworn

adj. Tarnished, frayed, faded, or otherwise defective from being on display in a store.

adj. Worn-out, as from overuse; trite: shopworn anecdotes.

conflagration

n. A large destructive fire.

bellicose

adj. Warlike or hostile in manner or temperament. See Synonyms at belligerent.

July Crisis

The July Crisis was a diplomatic crisis among the major powers of Europe in the summer of 1914 that led to World War I.

trepidation

n. A state of alarm or dread; apprehension. See Synonyms at fear.

n. An involuntary trembling or quivering.

parley

n. A discussion or conference, especially one between enemies over terms of truce or other matters.

v. To have a discussion, especially with an enemy.

prescience

n. Knowledge of actions or events before they occur; foresight.

partisan

n. A fervent, sometimes militant supporter or proponent of a party, cause, faction, person, or idea.

n. A member of an organized body of fighters who attack or harass an enemy, especially within occupied territory; a guerrilla.

adj. Of, relating to, or characteristic of a partisan or partisans.

decisive

adj. Having the power to decide; conclusive.

adj. Characterized by decision and firmness; resolute.

adj. Beyond doubt; unmistakable: a decisive defeat.

geostrategy

n. The branch of geopolitics that deals with strategy.

n. The geopolitical and strategic factors that together characterise a certain geographic area.

n. Governmental strategy based on geopolitics.

subnational

adj. Forming a subdivision of a nation; contained entirely within a nation.

metonym

n. A word used in metonymy.

metonymy

n. A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated, as in the use of Washington for the United States government or of the sword for military power.

Chekism (from Cheka, the first Soviet secret police organisation) is a term to describe the situation in the Soviet Union and contemporary Russia, where the secret political police control everything in society.

sordid

adj. Filthy or dirty; foul.

adj. Depressingly squalid; wretched: sordid shantytowns.

adj. Morally degraded: “The sordid details of his orgies stank under his very nostrils” (James Joyce).

shantytown

n. A town or a section of a town consisting chiefly of shacks.

Pottery Barn rule

The Pottery Barn rule is an American expression alluding to a “you break it, you buy it” policy, by which a retail store holds a customer responsible for damage done to merchandise on display. It is an analogy often used in the political or military arena to suggest that if an actor inadvertently creates a problem, the actor is obliged to provide funding sufficient to correct it.

realitätsflucht

German for: flight from reality

ailment

n. A physical or mental disorder, especially a mild illness.

ail

v. To feel ill or have pain.

v. To cause physical or mental pain or uneasiness to; trouble. See Synonyms at trouble.

Gott mit uns

German for: God is with us

echelon

n. A formation of troops in which each unit is positioned successively to the left or right of the rear unit to form an oblique or steplike line.

I’m not as well versed in the English language as I would have liked to have been by my age (I’m 31 at the moment). I try to improve my understanding of grammar and my vocabulary on a sort of ad-hoc basis as I go through life, as I suppose many people do.

I’ve decided that from now on when I look up a word to confirm or learn its definition I will put a short article about it up here on my blog.

So to start, today I learned about the word apropos, which as an adverb means “on an unrelated note”, and as an adjective means essentially “appropriate” or “suitable”. At least, I hope that’s what it means. :)

Hopefully I’ll get many more new and interesting words up here in the future.